Five literary agents at Chalberg & Sussman seek new authors

Lana Popovic

Chalberg & Sussman
115 West 29th St, Third Floor
New York, NY 10001
http://www.chalbergsussman.com/

Chalberg & Sussman is a new agency, established in 2011. Currently, the agency has five agents, all actively looking for authors:

Lana Popovic is an experienced literary agent, but has recently joined the Chalberg & Sussman agency and is looking for new authors. Prior to joining Chalberg & Sussman, Lana worked at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth, where she built a list of Young Adult and adult literary authors while managing foreign rights for the agency.

Lana’s clients include Leah Thomas (Because You’ll Never Meet Me, forthcoming from Bloomsbury), Rebecca Podos (The Mystery of Hollow Places, forthcoming from Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins), Michelle Smith (Play On, forthcoming from Spencer Hill Contemporary), and Marie Jaskulka (The Lost Marble Notebook of Forgotten Girl and Random Boy, forthcoming from Skyhorse).

With an abiding love for dark themes and shamelessly nerdy fare – Battlestar Galactica and Joss Whedon are two of her great loves – Lana is looking for a broad spectrum of Young Adult and Middle Grade projects, from contemporary realism to speculative fiction, fantasy, horror, and sci-fi.

For the adult market, Lana is interested in literary thrillers, horror, fantasy, sophisticated erotica and romance, and select nonfiction. An avid traveler, she has a particular fondness for stories set in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia, although she also loves reading about American subcultures.

Query Lana at: lana@chalbergsussman.com

Paste the first ten pages of the manuscript into the body of the email.

Nicole James

Nicole James joined Chalberg & Sussman as an agent in December 2013. She previously worked at the Aaron Priest Literary Agency as Foreign Rights Director.

Nicole represents a diverse list of clients including Nick Burd, author of The Vast Fields of Ordinary (Dial Books for Young Readers/Penguin); Ben Coes and his New York Times bestselling thriller series featuring Dewey Andreas (St. Martin's Press); MacKenzie Cadenhead's middle grade novel, Sally's Bones (Sourcebooks); and Nicole Boles's nonfiction book How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist (Workman). Nicole also represents works in translation.

Nicole is looking for literary and commercial fiction, including action-packed thrillers with great heroes. She is eager to find a female-driven thriller; a fantastic beach read for women; and a smart and thoughtfully written young adult series.

On the nonfiction side, Nicole is looking out for a book about weddings ("how-to" or memoir); a hip and intelligent "self-help" book; and anything topical that calls to her.

Query Nicole at: nicole@chalbergsussman.com

Natasha Alexis

Natasha Alexis earned her J.D. from Northeastern Law School and practiced intellectual property law at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison. Prior to joining Chalberg & Sussman in 2014, Natasha worked at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth, where she built her own list of clients while assisting with business affairs and contract negotiation.

Natasha’s clients include Samuel W. Gailey, author of Deep Winter (Blue Rider Press; Tracy Moore, author of Oops! How to Rock the Mother of Surprises: A Positive Guide to Your Unexpected Pregnancy (Adams Media); and Robert Tate Miller, author of Forever Christmas (Thomas Nelson).

A soccer fan and former dancer, Natasha is seeking manuscripts from all categories, including literary and commercial fiction, fun Middle Grade fiction, edgy chick lit, dark thrillers and New Adult fiction. Natasha is especially attracted to projects featuring people of color, and counts pop culture, lifestyle, and wellness-oriented nonfiction among her interests.

Query Natasha at: natasha@chalbergsussman.com

Rachel Sussman

Rachel Sussman worked as an editor at Scribner and as an agent with Zachary Shuster Harmsworth before co-founding Chalberg & Sussman.

Rachel represents a wide range of nonfiction and a select list of literary fiction. Her nonfiction list spans both serious and "unserious" subject matter, from psychology, science, history, and memoir to lifestyle, humor, and pop culture.

Rachel's clients include Sherry and John Petersik, authors of the New York Times bestseller Young House Love; Matt Logelin, author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Two Kisses for Maddy and co-author, with Sara Bee Jensen, of the forthcoming children's book Be Glad Your Dad; Bunmi Laditan, author of the satirical parenting guide The Honest Toddler, as well as the forthcoming children's book The Big Bed; Karen Alpert, author of the New York Times bestseller I Heart My Little A-Holes.

On the fiction side, Rachel's clients include Tiffany Hawk, author of the novel Love Me Anyway (Thomas Dunne Books), and Kristin Waterfield Duisberg, author of The Good Patient and After (Engine Books).

Query Rachel at: rachel@chalbergsussman.com

Terra Chalberg

Terra Chalberg began her publishing career in 2002 at Scribner. Later, at Simon & Schuster and Simon Spotlight Entertainment (now Gallery), she edited and acquired a diverse list of projects.

As an agent, first with the Susan Golomb Literary Agency and now as a co-founder of Chalberg & Sussman, she represents Glenn Taylor for The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart and author of The Marrowbone Marble Company; Andrew Porter for The Theory of Light and Matter and In Between Days; Margaux Fragoso, author of the New York Times and international bestseller Tiger, Tiger; Eugene Cross author of Fires of Our Choosing; and Jennie Ketcham, author of I Am Jennie.

Query Terra at: terra@chalbergsussman.com

Olga Filina

Brian Henry will lead How to Get Published workshops in Oakville on Saturday, Sept 27, with literary agent Carolyn Forde (see here) and in Niagara on the Lake on Sunday, March 1, with literary agent Olga Filina (see here).

He has a “Writing for Children & for Young Adults"workshop Saturday, Nov 8, in Guelph (see here).

Other upcoming workshops, include: "How to Build Your Story," Saturday, Oct 18, in Peterborough (see here), "Writing With Style," Saturday, Oct 25, Mississauga (see here), and “How to Write a Bestseller" with New York Times #1 bestselling author Kelley Armstrong, Saturday, Nov 22, in Burlington (see here) and Saturday, Dec 6, in London (see here). 

But the best way to get your manuscript ready for publication is with a weekly course. This September, Brian still has space in his “Welcome to Creative Writing" on Tuesday mornings in Burlington and “Writing Your Life & Other Personal Stories” on Tuesday afternoons in Burlington. (See details of both courses here.)

Come January, Brian will be offering an Intensive Creative Writing course on Wednesday afternoons in Burlington, and The Next Step in Creative Writing courses on Wednesday evenings in Burlington, Thursday afternoons in Mississauga and Thursday evenings in Georgetown.

To register or for more details of any course or workshop, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Toronto, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.